its 8.20pm....still at work

[hels]

hi....can any one help? i had a midwife appointment and then a dr appointment in the afternoon, this took me til 3.00, it s half an hours drive for me to go to work, so when i told my boss what time appointments finised i was told id have to make up the time, minus the half hour it would have taken me to get back to work, so i have had to to make up an extra hour and a half. i was astounded.
i used to work 12 hour shifts and one day i had 2 antenatal appointments on one day, and was told id have to make up 6 hours for that day.
so here i am its 8.20 pm, and im still at work making up my time, are they allowed to force me to make this time up? they did offer me to take a days annual leave, but i refused, desperatley trying to save my hols up so i can get finished working sooner....and boy i cant wait.
well if any one has any advice......love to hear from you.
gotta go. im sneaking off early from my 12 hour shift, they'll never know and its only 4 mins!!!
xx

 

[Rosieroo]

No they can't! Call ACAS and speak to them. You are entitled to paid time off for antenatal care and they cannot make you make up the time or force you into taking annual leave.

 

[Rosieroo]

http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/individual/matrights-pl958.pdf

Maternity rights leaflet from DTI. It doesn't say in the leaflet about making you make up your hours but I am sure that during the past few months I read that they cannot make you. Give ACAS a call in the morning, they were really helpful when I first started having problems with my employer.

 

[Zor-El]

your work have to let you take all your antenatal appointments off paid and the only time you have to prove you are going there is for your first one i cant believe that its against the law i hope you had your breaks aswell hun because that doesnt affect them either

 

[petchy]

the girls who have already replied are all absolutely right! you are entitled to paid time off (at your usual rate of pay) for anything that is part of your antenatal care, and also including travel time to get there and back. and it does not affect your breaks either.

what your employer has done is bang out of order, and you should get the time back that you were made to make up (sounds like quite a lot by what you described).

go to your HR dept if you have one and ask them to sort it out. or get a meeting with your boss, read up on your rights so you are prepared (printouts are good to document this as well) and stand your ground! either your boss is really ignorant and assumes he has the right to ask you to make up the time (which is really bad!) or he is aware of it but trying to make you do it anyway, assuming you will not dare speak up (which is even worse!!)

i might be wrong, but i think this might be classed as sex discrimination, in which case you could seek legal advice and possibly take action against them if they refuse to resolve this.

http://www.eoc.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=14996
http://www.maternityalliance.org.uk/parents_work.htm
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg373hp.pdf

good luck getting it sorted, let us know how it goes!

 

[hels]

LOL....Petchy i am currently working in HR (due to not being able to work with dangerous patients,)and the HR manager is my boss!!!!
I have spoken to ACAS who told me that you are entitiled to reasonable time off, but if i want to argue that making an hour and a half up that i wasnt at work, is unreasonable then im entitled to. i expect that when im working 12hrs then i supose that it is unreasonable to expect a full day off, so wont fight that one. but the one and a half hours seems unreasonable to me, but do i cause a scene with the people i work with and argue it, get stressed and worry, or do i learn a lesson and just book 1 appointment in 1 day and take half a day off in future, that way i wont be owrking extra.??????
God i cant wait not to be here any more.....working stinks!!!
tHANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR ADVICE AND PROMPT REPLIES XXXX

 

[ToriElla]

that sucks!! it's totally shocking!!!

 

[leannie]

Oh my god! I cant believe you were made to make up the extra hrs! You are so entitled to have paid time off for antenatal.

 

[Rosieroo]

Hels

For your sake and theirs you need to let them know that they cannot ask you to make up the time that you are legally entitled to take off and receive payment for. As your work have a HR department then I am surprised that they don't know this and by denying you your maternity rights they are setting themselves up for a fall. I would arrange a meeting with your boss and explain what ACAS have told you, also give him ACAS telephone number and any printouts that you can find that will support your claim. That way you both know where you stand. If he continues to make things difficult for you because you are asserting your right to paid time off for antenatal etc, then let him know (via the grievance procedure) that you are unhappy. As long as everything is documented they don't have a leg to stand on!